Truck



Patented Ang. 3i, 1926.

unirse saar-nr.

PATENT OFFICE..

GEORG-E WIL'COX, 0F RVERSDE, 'CALFLRNIA, ASSGNR TO CALIFORNIA CANN'INGIVIACHNRY O., f GRIPORA'TION F 'GALIFORNIL TRUCK.

Application nled January 20, 1923.

My invention relates to haind trucks of the type employed to transportboxes and other similarly shaped articles.

The ordinary type of Ahand truclz, employed for moving boxes from ,placeto place within the warehouses, consists of a carriage having 'a shelfor tongue .and a pair of wheels at one. end thereof, and grips at theother end. in yusing this `type of tri-ick, 'the shelf Vmust ybe forcedyunder the box to be carted in order .that the box may be lifted fromthe floor. This is often diiiicult to accomplish where the boxes areplaced and moved in stacks owing to the considerable weight of the stackand the fact that it must be tilted in order to insert the shelf of thetruck thereunder.

It is 'an object of my invention to provide a truck for handling boxedgoods having no shelf or tongue which must be forced nnder the boxes Itobe transported; Abut is provided with means for ygripping the. lower boxof the stack in such :a manner that the entire stack .may be liftedclear of the floor when the truck ispulled back out `of verticalposition.

It is ya further .object of .the invention to provide a jhand truckhaving a frame which extends in .substantially vertical posi-tion sothat when the truck is placed against a stack of boxes, this frame willrest against yone side of the stack. i

The invention further provides an auX- lilia-ry handle extendingrearwardly from the vertical frame and Aprovided with curved gripswhereby the operation -of the truck is facilitated.

It is a further object of the invention to provide `an improved and`simplified form of ,gripping means in which -a pair of rectilinearAarms are pivoted centrally 'to the iframe of the carriage Aand extenddownwardly yand outwardly beyond the sides of the carriage and haveforwardly extending portions which are provided with inwardly projectingengagement tongs. A simplified for-1n of operating means which may behand or rpedal oper-ated is further provided for swinging the armsoutwardly out of enn gagement position.

It is a further object -of the invention to ,provide box engagement.members which by the action of'their own weizghtcome into position ofengagement with the box to be carried, and which thereafter grip the boxwith Seliial ENO. '-613,898.

a force proportionate to the weight of the bon, due to `the novelarrangement -of these gripping members. With this anrangement, the above-noted Yoperating means has 'only the function of moving the grippingmeans ont 4of Aeng'agement position.

.It is fa still further object-of the invention to provide a hand'operated lever yconnected with the .operating mean-s which enables .atruck operator Ato conveniently retain the gripping members spread apart'vvhile wheeling the-empty truck to the next 'vbo/X., or lstack of boxesto be handled.

rJfhe 4especial advantages of the invention and further objects thereofwill :be made evident hereinafter.

Referring to the drawings `which ,are for illustrative purposes only,

l is a 'face view :of a ing the features ping `mechanism closedposition.

Fig. .2 is .a section taken rsu-bsta-ntia-lly upon .a plane representedby the Jline 2-`2fof Fig. l.

Fig. -3 .is an enlarged rear elevati-on of the lower partof the truck.

Fig. 4 is .a fragmentary section taken upon true'l; em-'bodyof anyinvention, the grip- .thereo'f being disposed in a plane represented by`the iine 4.-4 fof is shown in the drawings, the truck is comprised yof.-a pair of vertical Vside members ll Ihaving the upper ends thereofshaped 'to foran grips .12, .and cross ibars 14; which entend betweenthe side members lil. As shown in Fig. 4, the .lower 4'ends of theseside members 1l are recessed as :shown at 16, and :straps 17 are placedin the bottoms :of the recess so that a ymetal ,li-ned channel .1.8 isformed 'between .each strap 17 and the iron strap ,129 which is 'placednpon the .front of each of 4the :side members 1l :and is spaced apartfrom the :strap 17 by spacers .20 through which 'the bolts 2l extend.

Upon fa cross bar 23 which is attached somewhat above the bottom @crossmember 24 of the carriage, `.a pair of arins ,-26 'are .pivoted upon.bolts .2?? which 'are spaced Yequally upon .each :side of the centralaxis of the truck. These arms 26 extend v'diaigonal'ly outwardlythro-ugh the chan-nels 18 provi-ded between the .st/raps i7 .and 119 as:showin ythe draw-ing, and have the ends 29 thereof bent forwardly andend-ing 4in :inwardly ,projecting Vprongs :30.

A pair of vertical members 32, which extend between the cross bar 23 andthe bottom cross bar 24, provide a vertical slide 33 in which a centralblock 34 operates. lIhis block 34 has toggle links 36 pivoted thereuponwhich are attached by bolts 37 to the arms 26. -It will be perceivedthat by raising the block in the slides 33 from the position shown inFig. l to the position shown in 3, the arms are swung outwardly upon thepivot bolts 27 so that the prongs 30 are spread apart. The lifting ofthe block may be accomplished by forcing down upon a foot lever 40having a forwardly extending arm 41 which is connected to the block 34by a link 42. This link 42 has an eye 44 rolled at the upper end thereofwhich is engaged by a rod 46. The rod 46 is supported against one of theauxiliary handle members 47 by a bracket 48,' as shown in Figs. 2 and 3,and has the upper end thereof bent in the'v form of a handle 49 so thatan upward pull may be exerted thereby. The auxiliary handles 48 aremounted upon the backs of the side members 11 and extend diagonallyrearwardly as shown and are provided with curved grips'() which are insuch a position as to expedite the handling of the truck. It will beseen that in placing the truck against a stack ofboxes and moving aloaded truck from place to place considerable difficulty is experiencedif the truck isto be handled by the grips 12 of the side members 1l,owing to the fact that the grips are disposed forwardly yfrom the axis52 upon which the wheels 53 of the carriage are mounted; therefore, theauxiliary handles are provided to'faeilitate the running of the truckabout empty.

In the employment of this truck, the arms 26 are spread apart as shownin Fig. 3 so that considerable space exists between the forwardlyextending portions 29 thereof, the` arms 26 being held in separatedposition by holding the handle 49 in raised position by gripping itwiththe hand which holds the auxiliary handle 50. The truck is then run intoposition against a stack of boxes indicated by the dotted lines 55 withthe front of the carriage resting against the side of the boxes. Byreleasing the handle 49, `the block 34 is permitted to move downwardlyin the slide 33, allowing the arms to swing'- inwardly and the tongs 30to be brought into engagement with the sides of the bottom box 57 of thestack 55. The truck may then Vbe tilted backwardly upon the wheels 52,and the stack of boxes lifted from the ficor and transported as desired.The release of the boxes from the truck is accomplished by bringing thetruck-and stackl back to the position shown in Fig. 2 and thendepressing the pedal 40 or lifting' the handle 49 to cause theseparation of vthe arms 26.

- In pivoting the bars-26 centrally upon the carriage an arrangement isprovided whereby the downward force exerted upon the lower Vends of thearms 26, due to the weight of the box, causes a rotative tendency of thebars around their pivots which forces the lower ends of the, barsinwardly with a force proportionate to the downward force exerted;therefore, it will be seen that when the prongs are swung intoengagement with box 57, an increase of weight upon the box only servesto further imbed the tongs in the sides of the boxes, with the resultthat the box is more firmly gripped.

At the upper end of each bar 36, I provide an integrallyformedprojection or arm 60 which extends outwardly in the plane in whichthe arms 26 rotate. rIhese arms 6() bearV against the cross bar'23 ofthe carriage and thus provide a broad surface of contact lfor taking theaxial torsion stresses exerted in the bars 26 by the outward reaction ofthe boxes against the tongs 30. It will be understood that it is notnecessary for the entire face of each member 60 to be in contact withcross bar 23, but that only the ends 65 thereof need be, and that thelength of these members 60 may be increased or decreased to give thedesired freedom of action of the bars 26.

A particular advantage is found in the employment of the operatinghandle 49. By its use the truck operator is enabled to deposit a stackof boxes and to maintain the tongs in separated position, by grippingthe handle against the underside of the plow handle type of grip 50,while wheeing the truck back to the next stack of boxes to be carted.lith the tongs in this extended position the truck is brought intoplacebefore the next stack, whereupon the handle 49 is released,allowing the arms 26 to diop and the tongs brought into grippingengagement.

My invention provides a truck which may be moved into a position againsta stack of boxes, as hereinbefore described, and will pick up this stackof boxes without the necessity of moving or tilting the stack asnecessary where the common type ofhand truck, employing a shelf, isused. The simplicity of the parts make-sit possible to build a truck ofthe type shown at asmall cost, and adds v considerably to the durabilitythereof.

I claim as my invention:

l. In a hand truck provided with two sets of handles, the combinationof: a carriage; a pair of one-piece arms pivoted on fixed pivots withinthe sides of said carriage and having lower ends which extend outwardlybeyond said sides; arm operating means engageable by the fingers of ahand holding one of said handles and engagement means formed at theouter ends of said arms.

2. A truck, as defined in claim l, in which said arms are of'substantially rectilinear forni and are provided at their upper endswith separate pivots and separate bearing extensions.

3. A truck, as dened in claim l, in combination with toggle means forspreading said arms, said toggle means comprising a central guidedblock, movable either by hand-operated or by foot-operated means andcarrying the pivots of links which extend to said arms.

Il. d truck, as defined in claim l, in combination with means forspreading said arms which includes a vertically movable central, guidedblocl; and toggle links extending between said block and said arms.

5. A truck, as delined in claim l, in combination' with means in theform ot integral extensions in the same plane with said arms resistingaxial rotation o't said arms.

6. A truck, as defined in claim l, comprising` axial rotation resistingmembers formed at the pivot ends of said arms, saidk members projectingsubstantially in a radial plane respective to the axes of the pivots ofsaid arms, and bearing against the structure of said carriage.

7. In a hand truck, the combination of: a carriage having wheels at thelower end thereof; a pair or arms pivoted centrally upon said carriageand at a point above the lov-:er end thereof and extending insubstantially straight line formation downwardly and outwardly beyondthe sides of said earriage; forwardly extending portions, havinginwardly projecting prongs, bent up on the outer ends of said arms;extensions integrally formed atl the inner ends of said arms, saidextensions extending laterally in the plane through which said armsswing, and bearing against the structure of said carriage; a block; avertical slide for said block; spreader links extending between saidblock and said arms; and a lever for moving said block in said slide.

8. in a hand truck, the combination of: a wheeled traine;toggle-operated gripping means disposed at the lower end of said trameand comprising arms pivoted directly thereto', said gripping means beingnormally disposed in engagement position; and means operable by iootpressure, for moving said gripping means from said normal engagementposition when it is desired to engage an article to be transported.

9. A device, as defined in claim 8, in combination with a manuallyoperated rod secured to a central, guided block to which toggle linksare pivoted, said rod constituting alternative means for actuating saidgripping means.

ln testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles,California, this 11th day of January 1923.

GEORGE WILCOX.

